Soft materials typically exemplified by polymer gels have been developed as novel materials having peculiar electrical characteristic, morphological properties (phase transition, etc.), flexibility, etc., and much attention is recently paid to applications to gel actuators having controllability of electrochemical driving, among others. From this standpoint of view, it is desired to provide the polymer gel with excellent electrical conductivity. However, methods using conventional polymers have technological limitations in improvement in electrical conductivity. It is thus required to control the structure of the polymer gel, namely its molecular orientation, at a nano-level, particularly at a molecular level.
As a method for providing a polymer with molecular orientation, JP 7-105718 A discloses a method for producing a molecular complex comprising a polyelectrolyte and a conductive polymer, which comprises combining a polyelectrolyte functioning as a template and a monomer to form a template complex, and subjecting the monomer to oxidation polymerization by an oxidant. In this method, however, the molecular orientation of the resultant polymer is determined by the structure of a polyelectrolyte functioning as a template, failing to control the molecular orientation of the polymer at a nano-level, particularly at a molecular level.
Attempts have also been made to provide the self-organized-to-molecular-level body with orientation by the self-organization of a low-molecular-weight compound therein. In this method, the structure and properties of the self-organized-to-molecular-level body can be accurately controlled at a nano-level, particularly at a molecular level by optimizing the molecular structure of the low-molecular-weight compound, temperature and solvents for self-organizing the low-molecular-weight compound, etc.
JP 2002-85957 A discloses a method for producing a molecular-oriented hydrogel experiencing phase transition depending on a temperature by self-organizing a cationic amphiphilic compound and an anionic compound interacting with it. In this method, however, each molecule in the hydrogel is not polymerized, failing to obtain sufficient mechanical strength.
In addition, for use as materials for thin display devices, etc., development has been conducted to provide cast polymer films having excellent molecular orientation due to the self-organization of the above low-molecular-weight compounds. JP 2-238029 A discloses a method for producing a cast polymer film having excellent molecular orientation and mechanical strength, which comprises mixing a radically polymerizable monomer and a synthetic lipide capable of forming a two-molecule membrane, casting the resultant dispersion on a substrate, drying it to form a laminate film, polymerizing the monomer in the laminate film, and extracting the synthetic lipide.
This synthetic lipide has a structure represented, for instance, by the following formula (III):

Though the cast polymer film comprising this synthetic lipid has a multi-layered bilayer membrane in lamellar structure, the radically polymerizable monomer represented, for instance, by CH2═CRCOO(CH2CH2O)nCOC═CRH2, wherein n is 2 to 20, entering between the layers does not have a π-conjugated structure exhibiting redox activity. Accordingly, it is considered that this cast polymer film fails to exhibit excellent electrical conductivity.